Philippines: Employee rights

Original and updating authors: Marianne M. Miguel and Easter Princess U. Castro-Ty, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan

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Summary

• Employers are permitted to adopt their own health and safety measures to address the risks of coronavirus. (See Coronavirus - emergency measures)
• In general, an employee's normal hours of work must not exceed eight hours a day, with additional hours considered and paid as overtime, while various rules govern matters such as flexible working time and night work. (See Hours of work)
• Employees are generally entitled to an unpaid daily "meal period" of at least 60 minutes and to one weekly rest day (a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours) after every six consecutive normal work days. (See Rest breaks and rest periods)
• There is no statutory requirement that an employee's weekly rest day must fall on Sunday or any other particular day of the week, although employers must respect employees' preferences as to their weekly rest day when this preference is based on religious grounds. (See Sunday work)
• Employees with at least one year's service are entitled to five days of paid "service incentive leave" a year, if they are employed in an establishment with at least 10 employees, while employees are generally entitled to a paid day off on "regular" public holidays. (See Holiday and holiday pay)
• Managerial and certain other employees are not covered by the statutory rules on hours of work, rest breaks/periods, service incentive leave and public holidays. (See Hours of work)
• Employees are entitled to 105 calendar days of paid maternity leave with an option to take an additional 30 days of unpaid leave. Employees who are pregnant or breastfeeding have various other entitlements. (See Maternity and pregnancy rights)
• Married male employees are entitled to take seven calendar days' paternity leave on full pay when their lawful wife has a child or has a miscarriage. (See Paternity leave)
• Other than maternity and paternity leave, working parents do not generally have any entitlement to take paid or unpaid parental leave in their child's early years. However, employees who are "solo parents" are entitled to seven days' paid special leave per year. (See Parental leave)
• Special paid leave is available to female employees who are victims of domestic violence, or undergo surgery caused by gynaecological disorders. (See Other leave)
• Part-time employees have the same entitlements and protections under employment legislation as full-time employees, pro rata to their working hours where relevant. (See Part-time workers)
• Employees on fixed-term contracts and employees employed for the duration of a particular project generally have the same entitlements and protections under employment legislation as employees on open-ended contracts. (See Fixed-term workers)
• In the event of the sale or transfer of a business, the implications for employment relationships and rights depend on the nature of the transaction. (See Transfers of undertakings)
• In the event of the bankruptcy or liquidation of an employer's business, its employees' unpaid wages and monetary claims must be paid in full from the business's assets before the claims of other creditors may be paid. (See Insolvency of employer)
• Before imposing disciplinary sanctions on employees, an employer must follow due process, which includes requirements relating to notice and a hearing for the employee. (See Disciplinary procedures)
• Different arrangements apply to the resolution of grievances, depending on whether the workplace is "organised" or "unorganised". (See Grievance procedures)
• When processing the personal information of employees and job applicants, employers must comply with statutory data privacy rules. (See Data protection and employee privacy)
• Employers must offer remote (telecommuting) employees the same treatment as that afforded to comparable employees who work at their premises. (See Remote working)
• Employers may adopt internal rules and regulations on various matters and many are required by law to adopt and implement policies and programmes on issues such as sexual harassment, workplace drug abuse, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B, mental health, family welfare and cancer. (See Internal rules and policies)